News Archive: December 2012

Having become the first University to introduce an MSc qualification in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) in Europe in 2003, a student at Bangor University’s School of Psychology following the ABA MSc, has become the first Masters students at the School to submit a Master’s thesis written in Welsh. Applied behavioural science focuses on the use of basic learning principles to develop positive behaviour change for individuals, groups of people, and society at large.

The National Waterfront Museum in Swansea displays more than 300 years of Welsh industry and innovation and a new exhibition next year (2013) will focus on an important, if not so immediately apparent Welsh industry. Hannah Way, currently living in Talysarn is researching the 'Golden Age' of Welsh pop on behalf of the Museum. She is investigating the impact of small independent labels on the Welsh pop scene and the impact of new media on those who have survived.

Professor Cahill critiqued John McClelland’s report on how to maximise the Welsh pound in public procurement in Wales at the IWA on Nov 5th 2012. The main findings of John McClelland’s very well written report is that, although the Welsh Government has developed excellent policies in public procurement, unfortunately, the Welsh Government procurement policies are not being fully accepted and implemented by a significant minority of public sector organisations in Wales.

A member of Bangor University staff successfully sailed the Atlantic recently to raise money for the Beaumaris Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Stevie Scanlan, Marketing Manager at Bangor University’s College of Physical and Applied Sciences, recently took a month’s unpaid leave to complete this once in a lifetime challenge with her brother and father.

Christmas has come early for a first year Film Studies student after he won a HD GoPro camera for coming first in a Viral Video Competition run by the University’s Corporate Communications and Marketing Department.

Over the past six months, Bangor’s School of Psychology has been working with one of the world’s leading shopping research groups, Shopping Behaviour Explained (SBXL), to find out how people shop as part of the pan Wales Strategic Insight programme (SIP).

So next time you are shopping and notice a lovely smile on some packaging or perhaps an enticing smell in the air then you may well be experiencing sales techniques which are based on research that was pioneered at Bangor.

The World Health Organization’s recommendations on optimizing the roles of health workers aim to help address critical health workforce shortages that slow down progress towards the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). A more rational distribution of tasks and responsibilities among cadres of health workers can significantly improve both access and cost-effectiveness – for example by training and enabling ‘mid-level’ and ‘lay’ health workers to perform specific interventions otherwise provided only by cadres with longer (and sometimes more specialized) training.

Once again the Bangor University Student Christmas Market has attracted overwhelming support from customers across the university and beyond. A total of 150 students with 70 stalls between them offered a wide range of handmade products such as jewellery, arts & crafts, cards and decorations, knitted & crochet goods, cakes and chutneys, international foods, photography, pottery and Santa’s grotto. Over 1500 visitors who came through the doors during the afternoon had an opportunity to buy unique gifts with some of the profits going to charity.

Following the successful launch of the Confucius Institute at Bangor University earlier this academic year, the Confucius Institute has embarked on an interesting and varied programme of activities to raise awareness and understanding of Chinese culture.

A new sonic art work inspired by dyslexia and the science behind dyslexia is to be covered by Radio 4’s flagship All in the Mind programme, which explores the limits and potential of the human mind. The programme will be broadcast on Tuesday 18 December at 9.00pm and repeated on Wednesday 19 at 3.30 and will be available online after the first broadcast.

A third year BA Communication and Media student at Bangor University who started his own media company, has already worked on a film for the BBC, had a film broadcast on S4C and been commissioned to produce short videos for the University.

Pupils from Ysgol Uwchradd Bodedern working on an innovative and exciting climate change project, visited Bangor University to work in the laboratories there as part of their project Antarctica, Climate Change and Icefish.

Scientists from the University’s School of Biological Sciences have been leading the project under a Partnership Grant from The Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science, and have been working with the pupils since September. The project is introducing pupils to the effects of climate change on marine animals in a part of the world where biodiversity and habitats are especially vulnerable to environmental change.

Following the successful launch of the Confucius Institute at Bangor University earlier this academic year, the Confucius Institute embarked on an interesting and varied programme of activities to raise awareness and understanding of Chinese culture. These include a range of Chinese language classes.